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In this day, they that are submerged beneath the ocean of ancient Knowledge, and dwell within the ark of divine wisdom, forbid the people such idle pursuits. Their shining breasts are, praise be to God, sanctified from every trace of such learning, and are exalted above such grievous veils. We have consumed this densest of all veils with the fire of the love of the Beloved—the veil referred to in the saying: “The most grievous of all veils is the veil of knowledge.” Upon its ashes, We have reared the tabernacle of divine knowledge. We have, praise be to God, burned the “veils of glory” with the fire of the beauty of the Best-Beloved. We have driven from the human heart all else but Him Who is the Desire of the world, and glory therein. We cleave to no knowledge but His Knowledge, and set our hearts on naught save the effulgent glories of His light.

Here we are at the third of ten paragraphs looking at "a certain man, reputed for his learning and attainments", or as we like to think of it, the tablet of the false seeker. After all the various arguments Baha'u'llah has laid out in this book, this is the final gift he offers us before outlining the qualities of the true seeker in paragraphs 213 - 219. It is an amazing example of what not to do, before clearly guiding us to the proper manner in which to seek the truth.

Before we get into it, note the contrasting elements throughout this one paragraph. We begin with the ocean, and the ark which sails upon it. He then brings us back to our body with the reference to the breast, and then up towards the veil which, presumably covers the face. This veil is then burned with fire and we are left with its ashes. These ashes then form the foundation upon which is built the tabernacle, that sacred tent housing the Holy of Holies. The praise of God is like a burnt offering, soaring up towards the heavens, which brings us right back down to the heart, which has been cleansed and purified. Out to the ocean, in to the heart, up to the heavens, and back down to the heart again. So majestic. So powerful. And so grounding.

Going back to the beginning of this paragraph, we find ourselves at the ocean once again. In paragraph 1 we were trying to "attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding", but now we are "submerged beneath the ocean". We are not just pleasantly swimming on the surface, we are diving deep within it. But we are not in danger. Oh, no. We dwell within the "ark of divine wisdom", safe within its confines, free to dive into the ocean whenever we wish.

But this is not a total freedom to do anything we want. There are some rules that we follow. Of course, we don't follow them merely because they are there. We obey them because they are for our benefit. They are the sort of laws that aid us in our growth and development. One of those laws helps us avoid those senseless disciplines that avail us nothing.

As we move on, we find that these learnings appear to obscure the heart, as He refers to the "shining breasts" being "sanctified from every trace of such learning". This puts us in mind of all the writings that describe the heart as a mirror, from which we must cleanse the dross. These idle teachings espoused by this "man of learning" are like that dross.

Baha'u'llah then refers to this learning as a veil. As we saw earlier in the book, veils are those things that obscure the light of God for the individual. They are closer to us, more personal, than the clouds, which also obscure the light, but do so for everyone.

Now that we recognize the veil, we have to get rid of it, but how? In the Long Obligatory Prayer, Baha'u'llah asks God to "make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty". By turning towards God, facing the true beauty of the All-Beloved, that veil is burned away so that we may see His true beauty in all its glory.

Once this false and obscuring knowledge has been burned away, we find ourselves left with nothing but these ashes which can then be used to help us recognize the true knowledge that He is laying bare before us. This is how we are able to raise the "tabernacle of true knowledge". And again, looking at the concept of the tabernacle, we can see why it would be used here. It is the movable tent that housed the Spirit in the desert for the Jewish peoples, and where they store the Torah today.

By focusing on God, that source of all knowledge, our heart is cleansed. Nothing else remains within it but the love of God.

Back in paragraph 76, Baha'u'llah said, " Know verily that Knowledge is of two kinds: Divine and Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God Himself; the motive-force of the latter the whisperings of selfish desire." Here we are getting rid of the latter and focusing all our energies on the former.

This is where we want to be. This is what we want to do. And the following paragraphs remind us of what happens when we don't, when we turn towards ourselves and use our own limited knowledge as the "standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets."

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Gracious God! Such is the measure of his understanding. And yet, behold what cavils and calumnies he hath heaped upon those Embodiments of God’s infinite knowledge! How well and true is the saying: “Flingest thou thy calumnies unto the face of Them Whom the one true God hath made the Trustees of the treasures of His seventh sphere?” Not one understanding heart or mind, not one among the wise and learned, hath taken notice of these preposterous statements. And yet, how clear and evident it is to every discerning heart that this so-called learning is and hath ever been rejected by Him Who is the one true God. How can the knowledge of these sciences, which are so contemptible in the eyes of the truly learned, be regarded as essential to the apprehension of the mysteries of the “Mi‘ráj,” whilst the Lord of the “Mi‘ráj” Himself was never burdened with a single letter of these limited and obscure learnings, and never defiled His radiant heart with any of these fanciful illusions? How truly hath he said: “All human attainment moveth upon a lame ass, whilst Truth, riding upon the wind, darteth across space.” By the righteousness of God! Whoso desireth to fathom the mystery of this “Mi‘ráj,” and craveth a drop from this ocean, if the mirror of his heart be already obscured by the dust of these learnings, he must needs cleanse and purify it ere the light of this mystery can be reflected therein.

This is the second of the ten paragraphs Baha'u'llah uses to talk about the negative example set by Haji Mirza Karim Khan.

As you can see, it seems to begin with His exasperation, something that occurs seldomly, but occasionally, in this book. This is, in fact, the fifth time He has used the phrase "Gracious God" so far, and it is interesting to note when He uses it, but not where we want to go here.

Instead, He begins by reminding us that this individual said you needed to understand multiple different so-called sciences to understand one of the mysteries of Muhammad, the Miraj. The derision that Baha'u'llah uses towards this claim is evident when He says, "Such is the measure of his understanding." And then He exposes his character by referring to the "cavils and calumnies" he heaps upon those that disagree with him, especially "those Embodiments of God's infinite knowledge".

It is worth pointing out that cavils are petty and insignificant points of argument, while calumnies are lies designed to attack the character of an individual. As bad as backbiting is, at least it is based upon a truth. Calumnies don't even have that going for them. By using these two terms, Baha'u'llah is really giving us a sampling of this man's character.

Then, referring back to those sciences that are deemed necessary by this guy for understanding the Word of God, Baha'u'llah goes on and says that it is absurd to think that this would be the case. He points out that Muhammad, Himself, never wasted His time with these silly and obscure teachings.

Instead of wasting our time with these ideas, Baha'u'llah points out that what is important, especially for the understanding of religious truth, is the purification of the heart.

All of this, of course, goes right back to the very beginning of the book, where He says, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth."

This man seems to want to understand the Miraj. Let's presume the best of him here. Let's presume he is sincere in this desire.

He says that to properly understand it, you first have to understand all these different branches of learning, no matter how absurd some of them may be. But that's not what Baha'u'llah says. He doesn't say, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding unless he knows these various sciences." That's not what He says at all. He places the emphasis on detachment, not learning.

So what is the purpose of talking about this man here?

In some ways, it is the last step before He describes the station and attributes of the true seeker. By talking about Haji Mirza Karim Khan, Baha'u'llah is giving us a powerful negative example to avoid. After all, this is an individual who incited many people to rebel against the Bab and His followers. He is one of those souls of whom Baha'u'llah talks in paragraph 6. Remember paragraph 6? That is where He says "...the more closely you observe the denials... the firmer will be your faith..."

This is an individual who offered countless denials. But rather than just sharing those denials, Baha'u'llah is exposing a little bit of his character for us. And to be sure, it is of a type of character we really want to avoid.

Paragraph 203

For instance, a certain man, reputed for his learning and attainments, and accounting himself as one of the preeminent leaders of his people, hath in his book denounced and vilified all the exponents of true learning. This is made abundantly clear by his explicit statements as well as by his allusions throughout his book. As We had frequently heard about him, We purposed to read some of his works. Although We never felt disposed to peruse other peoples’ writings, yet as some had questioned Us concerning him, We felt it necessary to refer to his books, in order that We might answer Our questioners with knowledge and understanding. His works, in the Arabic tongue, were, however, not available, until one day a certain man informed Us that one of his compositions, entitled Irshádu’l-‘Avám, could be found in this city. From this title We perceived the odor of conceit and vainglory, inasmuch as he hath imagined himself a learned man and regarded the rest of the people ignorant. His worth was in fact made known by the very title he had chosen for his book. It became evident that its author was following the path of self and desire, and was lost in the wilderness of ignorance and folly. Methinks he had forgotten the well-known tradition which sayeth: “Knowledge is all that is knowable; and might and power, all creation.” Notwithstanding, We sent for the book, and kept it with Us a few days. It was probably referred to twice. The second time, We accidentally came upon the story of the “Mi‘ráj” of Muḥammad, of whom was spoken: “But for Thee, I would not have created the spheres.” We noticed that he had enumerated some twenty or more sciences, the knowledge of which he considered to be essential for the comprehension of the mystery of the “Mi‘ráj.” We gathered from his statements that unless a man be deeply versed in them all, he can never attain to a proper understanding of this transcendent and exalted theme. Among the specified sciences were the science of metaphysical abstractions, of alchemy, and natural magic. Such vain and discarded learnings, this man hath regarded as the prerequisites of the understanding of the sacred and abiding mysteries of divine Knowledge.

With this paragraph, Baha'u'llah begins talking about a "certain man". He will talk about this individual for a good ten paragraphs, what we see as the culmination of those twenty-two paragraphs discussing the two stations of the Manifestations of God. Previously He had given us the positive example of a sincere seeker who was willing to look at new ideas in his search for truth. But now He is giving us the negative example of one who was not. To us it gets the reader to ask themselves whether or not they are truly open to this new concept of the Manifestations, and which of these two individuals they want to emulate.

To begin, we want to point out that this "certain man" was Haji Mirza Karim Khan, a disciple of Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim. He had the temerity to "take over" the school founded by Shaykh Ahmad, despite the fact that Siyyid Kazim told his disciples to disperse and search for the Promised One. He fancied himself as the leader of this new movement and became an inveterate enemy of both the Babis and the Baha'is.

Baha'u'llah is using this man as an example from the previous paragraph, in which He talked about people who do not understand what true Knowledge is, and instead follow "those images fashioned by their own fancy and which have sprung from the embodiments of ignorance".

Many people questioned Baha'u'llah about this man, and so He says He had to "refer to his books, in order that We might answer Our questioners with knowledge and understanding". This is such a great example of doing the research before commenting.

In fact, it seems to be the exact opposite of what this other man does.

Baha'u'llah is showing humility here. This other man is showing nothing but haughty pride and arrogance. Entitling his book "Guidance unto the Ignorant"? What presumption. To claim that you must master all these various schools of thought before you can understand the Word of God? How ridiculous. The Word of God is there for all, not just the so-called learned. As Jesus said, all you need is faith the size of a mustard grain, not a whole tree.

Of course, He will elaborate on all this in the paragraphs to come.

For now, this all revolves around the dangers of pride. It goes right back to the beginning of the book where He says "Sanctify your souls, of peoples of world". And one of the first steps in sanctifying our soul is to be humble in our search for truth.

If we look back at how Baha'u'llah talks about the earlier Manifestations, back at the very beginning of the book, He regularly encourages the reader to verify what He says. He doesn't place Himself above the reader. Instead He encourages the reader to walk the path of learning for themselves, demonstrating humility while guiding the reader to greater truths.

Paragraph 202

Inasmuch as they have not apprehended the meaning of Knowledge, and have called by that name those images fashioned by their own fancy and which have sprung from the embodiments of ignorance, they therefore have inflicted upon the Source of Knowledge that which thou hast heard and witnessed.

Paragraph twelve of the twenty-two that look at those two stations that the Manifestations of God occupy. But now He is beginning to look at how we react to new information.

We are so used to thinking in dichotomies, either one thing or another, that it is sometimes difficult to see how two things can be true at the same time. The Manifestations of God are absolutely identical in the realms of reality, yet they also occupy different stations in the realm of this world. "Knowledge is a single point which the ignorant have multiplied."

So let's look at what He is saying here.

We think we know what we're talking about. We have these ideas which have actually come from our "own fancy and which have sprung from the embodiments of ignorance". We call what we think we know "knowledge", but are we really certain we understand what that word means?

We know from "Words of Wisdom" that "The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory, and this cannot be attained save through the knowledge of His Divine Manifestation." But that tells us the source, not what it actually is.

Knowledge, in essence, is awareness, understanding, information, and familiarity about a subject or reality, acquired through experience, education, or learning. It encompasses facts, skills, and insights that form a cognitive connection to the world, whether through practical skills, like knowing how to ride a bike, or theoretical understanding, like knowing scientific principles.

When it comes to religious knowledge, most of what we think we know is just fanciful imagination. We hear the prophecies and come with our own ideas of what the next Manifestation must look like.

All those questions that were asked way back in the beginning of the book? Those questions about why the people denied the promised One? The answer always comes back to this. They acted out of ignorance. They acted hastily and harshly based on their own false expectations.

Even so recently as paragraph 183, He pointed out to us that the people have regularly "turned their face toward their own thoughts and desires". This is so reprehensible that He even refers to it as "folly and perversity".

These "thoughts and desires" though, go far beyond what we think the next Messenger may look like, or how they may act. It also affects how we perceive God, humanity, and virtually everything else.

When talking about God, Baha'u'llah Himself approaches the subject with such humility. In Prayers and Meditations LXXV, He says, "I know not how to sing Thy praise, how to describe Thy glory, how to call upon Thy Name. If I call upon Thee by Thy Name, the All-Possessing, I am compelled to recognize that He Who holdeth in His hand the immediate destinies of all created things is but a vassal dependent upon Thee... And if I attempt to describe Thee by glorifying the oneness of Thy Being, I soon realize that such a conception is but a notion which mine own fancy hath woven, and that Thou hast ever been immeasurably exalted above the vain imaginations which the hearts of men have devised."

To be aware of the limitations of our own knowledge means that we can walk forward more surely, more humbly. It means being keenly aware of the difference between fact and our own opinion. So much of this paragraph focuses around this theme. Because we are unaware of the difference between these two, between our own opinions and actual truth, we "have called those images fashioned by (our) own fancy" as fact. Then when we act on these imagined ideas as if they are somehow universally true, we end up in all sorts of strange and dangerous places, lost amidst the wilds of error.

As we move forward in this book, Baha'u'llah seems to use this awareness, and the coming negative example of one who did not act in this way, as a prelude to our own search. He will preface it with a more lengthy description of the attributes of a true seeker, and then proceed to give us His argument for how we can know that the Bab was a true Manifestation of the Divine.

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Likewise, in the verse concerning the “Spirit,” He saith: “And they will ask Thee of the Spirit. Say, ‘the Spirit proceedeth at My Lord’s command.’” As soon as Muḥammad’s answer was given, they all clamorously protested, saying: “Lo! an ignorant man who knoweth not what the Spirit is, calleth Himself the Revealer of divine Knowledge!” And now behold the divines of the age who, because of their being honored by His name, and finding that their fathers have acknowledged His Revelation, have blindly submitted to His truth. Observe, were this people today to receive such answers in reply to such questionings, they would unhesitatingly reject and denounce them—nay, they would again utter the selfsame cavils, even as they have uttered them in this day. All this, notwithstanding the fact that these Essences of being are immensely exalted above such fanciful images, and are immeasurably glorified beyond all these vain sayings and above the comprehension of every understanding heart. Their so-called learning, when compared with that Knowledge, is utter falsehood, and all their understanding naught but blatant error. Nay, whatsoever proceedeth from these Mines of divine Wisdom and these Treasuries of eternal knowledge is truth, and naught else but the truth. The saying: “Knowledge is one point, which the foolish have multiplied” is a proof of Our argument, and the tradition: “Knowledge is a light which God sheddeth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth” a confirmation of Our statement.

On to paragraph eleven of the twenty-two that look at those two stations that the Manifestations of God occupy. Baha'u'llah is still looking at the theme of rejecting the truth based on one's own desires.

Why is He addressing this theme here? How does it fit in with His overall argument?

In these paragraphs He is talking about the twin stations of the Manifestations of God, and the argument could be made that He is no longer talking about that. No problem. But for us, this all fits under that category. Every single Manifestation has had to face the problem of giving a truthful answer to the questions of the religious leaders of the day, only to be accused of ignorance or insanity. This is part of their absolute unity. But they have all had to face it in their own way, in their own time. This is part of their differences based on when and where they lived.

We think Baha'u'llah is talking about this here because it is relevant to where the uncle of the Bab is about to be. In just a few paragraphs He will begin His actual defence of the Bab, giving proofs of His mission from the the Qur'an, a demonstration of His efficacy through His followers, and finally from the Bab's own life. It would be so easy to deny any of these if we were caught up in the snare of egotism, so it seems fitting that He is giving us this final warning before reminding us of the necessary positive qualities of the true seeker, and then moving on to His argument.

In terms of Muhammad's response to the question about the spirit, we can see now that He gave a truthful answer about a subject we can never really understand. The spirit does come from God's command. No Muslim would deny this. But at the time, it probably seemed like a non-answer, and went against the common understanding, which was obviously flawed. So rather than explore the response, the people of the day just denied Muhammad.

We know that there were many similar instances where the authorities denounced the Bab based on similar responses.

By reminding the uncle of this, Baha'u'llah is encouraging him to really consider any and all responses, regardless of his immediate reaction to it. He is pointing out to him the importance of not presuming that we have knowledge and everyone else must agree with us. We are not the final authority, the standard by which we must judge all else. He said this way back in paragraph 2 when He cautioned us not to "regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard". This includes ourselves. We must always be fair-minded.

The last two quotes in this paragraph are a good reminder that there is only one truth in the universe, no matter how we may try to break it down to smaller, more easily understood bits. And that this light we call knowledge is, in the end, given to us by God's good will.

Finally, this all hearkens back to paragraph 6 where He tells us "the more closely you observe the denials... the firmer will be your faith..." As we recall this particular denial, it is hoped that we will avoid offering up the exact same objection.

Paragraph 200

For instance, when Muḥammad, the Lord of being, was questioned concerning the new moons, He, as bidden by God, made reply: “They are periods appointed unto men.” Thereupon, they that heard Him denounced Him as an ignorant man.

We're already at paragraph ten of the twenty-two that look at those two stations that the Manifestations of God occupy. For right now Baha'u'llah is looking at the theme of rejecting the truth based on one's own desires. These next three paragraphs will look at a few examples of people asking questions of Muhammad.

When we look at the passage cited, we can see that Muhammad answers the question in terms of how it relates to Fasting. And while we could easily go into a long post about the spiritual meaning of the response, and the truths contained within it, we feel this is actually a distraction from the important point Baha'u'llah is making.

Questions are very important in life, but more important is how we ask them.

We may recall the "well-known divine", mentionedback in paragraph 40, who came to visit Baha'u'llah. This man offered a fairly silly interpretation of a quote, and Baha'u'llah gently said that while that was the common understanding, couldn't it be understood differently? This man, rather than scoff at Baha'u'llah's "ignorance", sincerely asked what this other interpretation could be. That showed a sincerity and humility that could not be denied, and he was rewarded with a far better understanding of a spiritual truth.

The story of Muhammad that Baha'u'llah is referencing is in contrast to this. These people asked the Prophet some question about astronomy, which they presumably knew. He did not give them the answer they wanted to hear, so they denounced Him. A thousand years later we can read this and say, "We know the type of people that ask these sorts of questions." They are not looking for information, they are looking for confirmation. The question from these astronomers is not about a sincere search for the truth. It is about confirming one's own belief. It is a form of boosting one's own ego, and showing pride in their position by belittling anyone who has a different opinion.

And most importantly, because they were expecting a specific answer that was in conformity with their own ideas, and Muhammad gave them an answer referring to a spiritual truth about the Fast, they denied Him. They did not even consider what He said, but just flat out called Him ignorant.

Over and over in the various religions we see this exact scenario playing out. People expect a specific response, and then turn around and deny the Messenger because they answer the question in a different way.

In relation to the current section about the two stations the Messengers occupy, it shows on the one hand how they all face this type of challenge, another form of their absolute oneness. On the other hand, they each are challenged in their own way, unique to the times in which they live.

Paragraph 199

Those words uttered by the Luminaries of Truth must needs be pondered, and should their significance be not grasped, enlightenment should be sought from the Trustees of the depositories of Knowledge, that these may expound their meaning, and unravel their mystery. For it behooveth no man to interpret the holy words according to his own imperfect understanding, nor, having found them to be contrary to his inclination and desires, to reject and repudiate their truth. For such, today, is the manner of the divines and doctors of the age, who occupy the seats of knowledge and learning, and who have named ignorance knowledge, and called oppression justice. Were these to ask the Light of Truth concerning those images which their idle fancy hath carved, and were they to find His answer inconsistent with their own conceptions and their own understanding of the Book, they would assuredly denounce Him Who is the Mine and Wellhead of all Knowledge as the very negation of understanding. Such things have happened in every age.

Paragraph nine of the twenty-two that look at those two stations that the Manifestations of God occupy is quite interesting. It builds on the theme of rejecting the truth based on one's own desires. The next three look at some examples of this occurrence in the time of Muhammad, and then goes on to use the negative example of Haji Mirza Karim Khan using the Word of God to boost his own fragile ego.

Starting at the beginning, we have to ask which words He means when He says "Those words". Those would be the ones quoted in paragraph 196, in which the Messengers of God describe their station in all these different ways. He has already stated that they "must be attentively considered", and now adds that they "must needs be pondered". He really is drawing our attention to them, and making sure we know to take the time to internalize His explanation.

Following this, the next two sentences have an interesting thing in common, in that they are very easy to misinterpret. It is so natural to try and read each one as referring to multiple things, when they are both using caveats for clarification.

In the sentence beginning "For it behooveth no man..." He uses the word "nor" in the middle. This means that both parts of the statement must be false, or else the word "or" would have been used. In other words, it is not a condemnation of interpreting the Word of God for ourselves, for this would violate the principle of independent investigation of truth. Instead, it is a warning. He is saying that we should not reject the Word of God based on a faulty interpretation that goes against our "inclinations and desires". Instead, we should either reexamine our interpretation so that it is more in line with the truth, or reexamine our "inclinations and desires" to make sure they do not get in the way of our recognition of the truth.

In the following sentence, beginning with "For such, today, is the manner...", it would be easy to see this as a blanket condemnation of all "the divines and doctors of the age". But again, it isn't. It is a condemnation of those who occupy that lofty station, but then "have named ignorance knowledge, and called oppression justice". This is where the problem is, not the position, but the promotion of the denial of truth from that position, probably due to their own "inclination and desires".

All of this builds upon that theme that was first introduced way back in paragraph 2: "... man can never hope to attain unto the knowledge of the All-Glorious... unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets." This is a theme He has built on throughout the book, and this is the latest iteration of it.

From here He will go on and give an example of people rejecting Muhammad based on their own faulty understanding. As He said, "Such things have happened in every age."